ABNA review of In The Midnight Hour

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

The details of Dr. Anderson's getaway from the mental hospital are astoundingly vivid, well-thought out, and incredibly plausible. It was very easy to follow the action surrounding his escape and every minute detail of his plan was illustrated with accuracy and attention to detail. Even despite all of this detail, the excerpt was fast-paced and paralleled the high stakes situation Dr. Anderson is in.
What aspect needs the most work?

This excerpt is very reminiscent of "The Count of Monte Cristo," as the escape from the mental institution is almost exactly a modern day version of the aforementioned novel. Also, although all the details of the escape and plan to follow are precise and plausible, the author gives too much away too quickly. I think the reader would derive more pleasure from these details unfolding more naturally throughout the novel. Finally, the doctor has escaped; what happens now? It's almost as if the exciting part of the novel is over in the first few pages.
What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

For readers who like thrillers, this excerpt certainly starts off with a bang. The idea isn't particularly unique, but the writer does a nice job getting the reader acquainted with the character of Dr. Anderson and allowing the reader to become immersed in his getaway and escape plan. However, many aspects of the plan have become somewhat cliche, due to crime shows on tv and the multitudes of crime/thriller novels. There wasn't anything in this excerpt that stood out as different from the plethora of other works in this genre.
ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

This is a very detailed account, and does a wonderful job of evoking a thoroughly concrete setting and mood. Also, a major virtue of this piece is its ability to jump right into the central action. I was definitely hooked from page one.
What aspect needs the most work?

This prose is very lyrical, at times a bit too stilted for my taste. However, this would not be such a problem if there was some variation in sentence length and structure to break up the heavy monotony of simple sentences beginning with the subject noun. Furthermore, from the very beginning I had a difficult time caring about this character, however, this may have been intentional on the part of the author.
What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

Besides the prose styling, along with several grammatical errors, this excerpt has many elements of a strong novel. The perspective taken here is very cinematic, which evoked a clear setting, however, there was a good amount of narrative distance between reader and protagonist.